Car-coupling



(No Model.)

J. M. BIRTELS.

GAR COUPLING.

Patented July 14, 1891.

1 Manama VETERS co., mime-m UNITED STATES JOHN M. BIRTELS, OF BALTIMORE,MARYLAND.

CAR-CO UPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,080, dated July 14,1891.

' Application filed May 20,1891.

T on whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. BIRTELS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the Stateof Maryland, haveinvented certain newand useful Improvements in Car- Couplings; and I do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to thelettcrs of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention has relation to automatic coupling, and the object is toprovide a simple, cheap, and effective coupler and drawhead; and to thisend the novelty consists in the construction, combination, andarrangement of the parts of the same, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the same letters of reference indicate likeparts of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved automatic car-coupler anddraw-head, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same.

A is the draw-bar proper, and it is secured to the bolster B of thecar-body (not shown) by means of the king-pin C and the guiderods D D,working in guide-braces E E, vertically secured to said bolster. Securedabout said guide-rods D D, between the bolster an the guide-braces, arebuffer-springs F F, which take up the longitudinal strain between thedraw-bar and the car, both in drawing and backing, when the train is inmotion. The king-pin O fits snugly in the bolster B, and passes throughtwo oblong holes 0 c in the top and bottom plate of the draw-bar,

so that when the cars are coupled the first strain in moving forward istaken up by the buffer-s rin F until itisnearlv com ressed and then therear ends a a of the oblong holes 0 0 bring up against the king-pin O,which then stands the entire strain, and when the train is backing thespring F first takes up the strain, and then the forward ends a a of theholes a 0 come in contact with the king-pin C and the strain istransferred to it, as in the first instance.

Serial No. 393,458. (No model.)

G is the lraw-head, and it slides snugly between the forward ends of thedraw-bar, its rear end being provided with a recess h, in which slides aguide-rod g, encircled by a spiral spring g, the guide-rod g beingsecured to a brace h, vertically secured in place in said draw-bar, thespring g being located between said brace h and the rear end of thedraw-head, and the tendency of said spring is to always press thedraw-head out to its full limit, which is accomplished when the rear endi of the slot comes in contact with the amount of play or backward andforward motion of the draw-head being limited by the length of the slotI.

L L are two holes in a vertical line in the similar holes in thedraw-head, and when the draw-head is pushed in to its full limit thefour holes LL and M M are in line and admit of the coupling-pin Npassing through them; but when the coupling-pin is withdrawn the springg forces the draw-head outwardly and the holes are out of line, or inthe position shown in Fig. 1. If the draw-head is forced back, which canreadily be done by the handlever 0, fulcrumed at P in the lower plate ofthe draw-bar, as shown, the holes L and M are in line and the end of thecoupling-pin inserted so as to project a short distance into thelink-space Q, and by releasing the lever O the spring g presses thedraw-head forward, which tends to throw the pin-holes L and M out ofline, and consequently binds the pin between them and supports it in anelehaving the coupling-link in proper position to enter the space Q islocked up the link first enters the link-space Q, and then the draw-headon the adjoining car comes in contact with the draw-head G, forcing itbackward until the forward end 11 of the slot I comes in contact withthe bolt K, in which position of the parts the four holes L L and M Mare in line, and the coupling-pin, which was supported in an elevatedposition, as heretofore described, is released and falls by gravitythrough the link and enters the two lower holes L and M, therebyautomatically coupling the cars, the head at of the pin N preforward endof the draw-bar, and M M are vated position, and in this position if acarbolt K, rigidly secured in the draw-head, the

venting it from dropping entirely through the holes. The lower portionof this coupling-pin N is provided with an inclined recess a, having anangular shoulder n so that when the pin is inserted, as shown in Fig. 2,the rear end of the link enters said recess a and the shoulder or? restsupon the top of the link and supports it in a horizontal position, asshown, and in which position the car may be backed against an adjoiningcar similarly fitted, and when in contact with sufficient force the pinN is released and drops through into the holes L and M, and the pin inthe draw-head of the adjoining car, which was elevated to allow the linkto enter, is at the same time released and drops through the outer endof the link, as hereinbefore described.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a combined coupling and draw-bar, the combination, with a bolsterB, provided with guide-rods D D, springs F F, and kingpin 0, of thedraw-bar A, having the oblong holes 0 a, through which the king-pinpasses, and the guide-braces E E, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with the draw-bar A, having a guide h, bolt K, andholes L L, of the draw-head G, provided with the guide-rod g, spiralspring g, slot I, holes M M, and linkspace Q, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. The combination, with the draw-bar A, having guide h, bolt K, holes LL, and handlever O, of the draw-head G, provided with the guide-rod g,spring 9, slot I, holes M M, and the coupling-pin having recess 01. andangular shoulder of, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN hil. BIRTELS.

Vitnesses:

HENRY J. ENNIS, GEO. MoGovERN.

